10 GT3

Here is an update. I have talked to 2 Porterfield dealers and both said to NEVER use R4S pads on the track. The stock pads are a lot better. The also said that the Pagid Orange's are better than the R4's or Hawk's. The advice I have is that the Pagid Oranges can be driven on the street and there may be some noise. If you are looking at swapping at the track, the highest recommendation was for Pagid Yellows. The other piece of advice I got from several resources (including Ruf) was to run Porsche Sport Pads as a street/track option. Expect some noise, but the common input is that they drive identical to Pagid Orange's. My final decision was to try to the Porsche Sport pads. I have front and rear sets that will be going on my car this weekend.

bruinbro

Funny, the guy at the Porterfield factory sold me R-4's for my rear pads, R-11's for the fronts. Who would know better, the dealer or the guy at the factory?

Bro

bnewport

Hawk HP+ for me and no issues even at tracks like Road America. Tirerack has Hawk HP+ pads for 996s, 280 bucks all wheels.

TrackDays247.com

Hawks are universally uh, DISLIKED for a track pad, FWTW.
Not only *my* opinion.......one of multiple customers.

10 GT3

So far my experiences with the Porsche Sport Pads have been positive. They have been quiet to date, have more bite than the stock pads cold and a lot more bite with speed. They definitely need some warming if you are going to do hard braking over 100 mph. You definitely can feel the pads through the pedal, but they still don't lack braking power. I will be doing a DE in about a week and a half and I'll post a full perspective after that.

TrackDays247.com

EXCELLENT discussion - lots of good advice:
https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-and-drivers-education-forum/294601-brake-pad-question-for-track-street.html

10 GT3

Porsche Sport Brake Pads - update

Track Day 1:

I just had my first track day on the Porsche Sport Pads and they are a huge improvement. As they have worn in, I occassionally get some squeel; but 1 hard stop seems to silence them. I have significantly more braking power and a lot of reserve with these pads. I ran 25-minute sessions back to back and they were unphased.

They are a great street/track compromise. They are ready to work on the first and last laps every session. The one thing I don't look, is I switch to ATE fluid a couple of months ago. Although a lot of people like this fluid, I have a softer pedal with it. I will be changing to AP551 which consistantly gives me a better pedal feel in my ohter cars after this DE.

Track Day 2:

I am really impressed by these pads. I really worked the pads hard today. The hotter they get, the better they work. How much braking you can get out of them will depend on how much pedal pressure you can put down. I bled a little of out of the brakes and the pedal was still a little soft, confirming again that ATE is not working for me. Driving home after working them hard, they still drove well on the street with no noise. Brakes dusting is far better than the stock pads. I highly recommend these pads.

Update after brake flush:

I flushed out the ATE fluid and replaced it with AP551. There is a huge improvement in pedal feel. Pedal travel dropped almost in half and it is now extemely hard. In fact, the pedal barely moves to get the brakes to apply with good pressure. All the sponginess is gone. I now notice the pads do need 1-2 moderate stops to warm up and then they grab hard. I am still not getting any significant noise from them.

Rough_Rider

Been through Ferrodo, Mintex, Pagid, PF & the list goes on

I finally settled on these guys as they'll make you a pad based on your usage. Bonus is they we're half the price of OEM or Pagids. Can't praise them enough.
http://www.carbotecheng.com/main.htm

10 GT3

I discovered something new about the Porsche Sport Pads: when the temps drop the get noisy. I have no problems with night time temps in the upper 80's and 90's. We had our first 60 degree night and the pads have audiably made themselves known. With moderate braking up to 40 mph, they don't quite down. A quick run up to 80 and a hard hit on the brakes silences them back down...until they fully cool. I plan to switch back to the OEM pads after the last DE of the season and leave them on until spring. I'll then put the Sports back on and leave them.

CLS

I am very interested in the issue of better brake pads and what I am reading on this thread is VERY good empirical data. I was hoping and haven't found some actual data like Car & Drive someone that did a stop test, same car under a number of different scenarios, Cold Straight line braking distance, Hot xx number of hard braking situation with a final number, Wet same thing cold vs. hot.

Anyone here know of such a study done on a 911 GT 2/3 car? I am sure the factory does this kind of research wouldn't they?

CLS

Which pads are you using XP8/10/12?

Dynamite 76

Has anyone had experience with pbr Deluxe Plus organic pads, using as a trackable street pad?

RayGT3

Any pads are trackable, it's a matter of how you use them and how well you expect them to work and last. You simply will not find street pads that will hold up and perform as well as dedicated track pads, end of story.

Dynamite 76

Let me restate the question:

Has anyone had experience with pbr Deluxe Plus organic pads?

10 GT3

Absolutely not true! The OEM Textar pads worked extremely well for most drivers. When I was running stock S03's on stock wheels with better fluid,I never had issues with fading until I switched to race rubber. With the additional grip from the wider and much stickier MPSC's, I experienced fade on my first session running stock pads. so, yes I switched after that.

For those running street rubber, Green students and Blue students will be fine with the stock pads. They should run a much better fluid and I would highly recommend keeping an extra set of pads to swap just in case.

I do agree for more advanced drivers with better skills and those running higher grip tires that the OEM street pads become a major limitation. From here there is always a compromise. A better track pad means poorer cold performance and noise. I recommend swapping to Pagid Orange or Porsche Sport pads. I took Ruf's advice and run the Porsche Sport pads and I am very happy with their performance. The Porsche Sport pads aren't too bad in warmer climates. I keep them on my car for 7-8 months out of the year. It usually takes only 1 brisk stop at lower speeds to warm them up cold. The hotter they get, the more they like to grip. When it gets colder, they do get very noisy.